


and everybody tells me that it's cool to be a cat

by SilverHeart09



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/F, The Doctor gets turned into a cat, cat!Thirteen, that's the story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:55:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23082826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverHeart09/pseuds/SilverHeart09
Summary: Blinking down from one of the crystalline pillars that hung over the TARDIS console, was a small yellow cat.Yaz stared at it, open mouthed. The Doctor tended to park the TARDIS in deep space when they weren’t flitting around the galaxy, how had a cat gotten inside?
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan
Comments: 22
Kudos: 146





	and everybody tells me that it's cool to be a cat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thoteenthdoctor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thoteenthdoctor/gifts).



> This is for Ginoodle who needed more cat!Doctor shenanigans. She basically gave me all the ideas then I just wrote it. Love you wife <3 <3

Yaz had been afraid of the dark as a child. She’d grown out of it as she’d gotten older, accepting that just because the light was off it didn't mean all the monsters had free range to creep out from under the bed, and in the TARDIS there was nowhere she felt safer. 

This was handy, as the Doctor had an annoying habit of making a lot of noise when the humans were trying to sleep and Yaz had never been a fan of the  _ Things That Go Bump In The Night  _ song as a child, the music video even less so. 

On this occasion however, Yaz really couldn’t sleep and the distant clatter of something smashing somewhere was the final straw. She moaned and dragged herself out of bed, deciding to give her alien friend a gentle reminder about the importance of humans and their sleep patterns. Truth be told she’d love to give the Doctor a lecture on the importance of her own sleep pattern, but the Doctor always brushed off their concerns with a casual ‘I don’t need to sleep as much as you lot’ or ‘I got a full three hours the other night’ or, on one occasion, ‘sleep is for the weak.’

They would inevitably find her passed out in some uncomfortable position though. Halfway sprawled across the TARDIS console had been the best one so far. 

The TARDIS lights were dim but it was gentle and Yaz trailed her hand across the metal wall as she headed towards the console room, feeling the hum beneath her fingertips as she yawned and staggered sleepily down the hexagonal steps. 

‘Doctor, can you please keep it -’

The console room was empty.

‘- down. Doctor?’   
Yaz frowned and did a slow lap of the console, looking for the Doctor. Her tool box was open, various tools and spanners strewn across the floor, and part of the console had been opened up and had wires trailing from it. She’d definitely been in here recently, but there was no sign of her now.

‘If you see her,’ Yaz told the TARDIS, sighing as she rubbed her tired eyes. ‘Tell her to -’

_ ‘Meow.’ _

Yaz’s head shot up and she frowned, eyes squinting as she searched for the source of the noise. She must be exhausted, that had sounded like a -

‘What the…’

Blinking down from one of the crystalline pillars that hung over the TARDIS console, was a small yellow cat.

Yaz stared at it, open mouthed. The Doctor tended to park the TARDIS in deep space when they weren’t flitting around the galaxy, how had a cat gotten inside?

The cat meowed again, sounding upset, and Yaz realised it must have climbed up the pillars and gotten stuck. Trust the cat to find the only thing in the console room that vaguely resembled a tree to clamber up. 

‘It’s alright, puss,’ Yaz said. ‘We’ll get you down. Just give me two seconds to find reinforcement.’

* * *

Ryan was less than impressed at being woken up, but intrigued by the news of their stowaway.   
‘I can’t find the Doctor anywhere,’ Yaz explained as they hurried back to the console room. ‘And I’ve got no idea how the cat got in.’

The cat was still on the top of the pillar and it meowed in agitation when Ryan and Yaz ran in, large green eyes flickering anxiously from side to side as it clung on with sharp claws. 

‘It even looks like a cat!’ Ryan exclaimed. ‘A normal one, I mean. I was picturing - I dunno. A space cat or something.’

‘A space cat?’ Yaz scoffed. ‘With a little helmet on?’

‘Yeah! In a little astronaut suit.’

The cat yowled and Ryan dug his hand into his pyjama pocket and pulled out his pocket knife. 

‘I grabbed this on the way out the door,’ he explained, waving the device at Yaz. ‘The cat can easily get down from there. Watch this.’

He held out the pocket knife and activated a small switch on one of the accessories. Immediately, a small red dot appeared and Yaz realised he’d turned it into a laser pointer. 

‘Aw, she likes it,’ Ryan grinned, pointing the small dot along the pillar as the cat - its fear of heights forgotten - darted across it and tried to catch it with its paws. 

‘Or he,’ Yaz pointed out. ‘I don’t know how you tell the gender of a cat. It was never something we learnt about in basic training.’

Ryan angled the penknife down and the cat leapt and landed on all four paws on the console room floor, immediately running around and chasing the dot as Ryan grinned. 

‘See? Easy.’

Bored of the dot, the cat sauntered up to them and rubbed itself against Yaz’s legs, purring happily. Yaz bent down to stroke its furry head. There was no collar, no identification or nametag of any kind around the cat’s neck, and no indication as to how it had gotten in. It seemed friendly though, and it pressed its face against Yaz’s hand; chirping happily.

‘It likes you,’ Ryan said. ‘Where do you think the Doctor is though?’ 

Yaz tentatively opened the TARDIS doors, expecting to perhaps see some kind of planet where the cat could have come from outside, but it was only space. Deep, black, and devoid of life. The cat sat beside her, peering outside as a small asteroid floated past them. They were alone for miles.

‘We should go find her,’ Ryan said. ‘Come on, let’s go wake up Graham.’

They combed the TARDIS for hours. They checked the engine room, the kitchen, the bathrooms, the library, the Doctor's study (which they weren’t allowed into but it was her own fault for leaving the door unlocked), the swimming pool, the rainforest, four out of seven of the water parks, the wardrobe, the music hall, the irish bar, and the astronomy lab, but there was no sign of her. 

The cat had pottered around with them, meowing for attention every now and then and Ryan had been busy keeping it entertained with the laser pointer. A half opened packet of custard creams had been left on the Doctor's desk and the cat had pounced on them, seizing one in its sharp teeth before merrily running off with it before Graham could stop it. 

But the Doctor was nowhere to be found and her three friends were starting to get worried.

‘What if she’s sick somewhere?’ Yaz said. 

‘Do we know where her bedroom is?’ Ryan asked. 

‘Does she even  _ have  _ a bedroom?’ Graham pondered. 

In response, the TARDIS hummed above their heads and a door slid into view in front of them. It appeared so suddenly that it almost hurt and the humans found their eyes were straining as they tried to keep it in their line of focus. The door was a deep blue colour with a silver doorknob, and when Yaz reached out a hand it opened automatically. 

Inside was a bedroom. It was dark, lit only by a small silver lamp on a bedside table, and the covers on the bed were rumpled with pillows strewn on the floor. 

‘Doc?’ Graham called quietly. ‘You in here?’

The bed was empty and the cat pottered inside, sniffing the air before it sat on the floor and started washing itself. 

‘This looks like a bathroom,’ Yaz said, stepping further into the room. She opened another door that led into an ensuite and frowned, her gaze fixed on the floor. The cat came in with her and sat by her legs, head tilted to one side. 

On the floor in front of them were the Doctor's clothes, abandoned in a messy pile, with shards of broken glass on the cold tiles. 

‘What happened here?’ Graham pondered. ‘Maybe she cut herself on the glass and went to the medbay?’

‘We checked there, and I can’t see where the glass has come from,’ Yaz said, kneeling beside it and carefully picking up a shard. ‘Maybe something got knocked off the side?’ 

The glass was purple and a large shard of it was spherical, as though it was a bauble or something similar that had smashed. The cat sniffed it with interest then hissed and ran out of the bathroom, clambering up onto a bookcase. The Doctor's coat was draped over a faded armchair next to the bed and Ryan picked it up, brow furrowing when he realised the sonic screwdriver was still in the pocket. The Doctor loved her sonic. 

‘I don’t like this,’ Graham said. ‘I’m getting a vibe.’

‘Yeah, I know what you mean,’ Ryan said. ‘I think something bad happened to her.’

The cat meowed from the bookcase. It clearly agreed. 

‘We should do another sweep of the TARDIS,’ Yaz said. ‘Maybe she’s back in the console room?’

Graham and Ryan didn't look sure, but what else could they do? This wasn’t the first time the Doctor had vanished on them, but she was usually easy to find or she’d respond with a shout if she heard them looking for her.

* * *

Six hours later, the Doctor was still missing and her friends were exhausted.

‘How big is this bleedin’ thing?’ Graham grumbled, rubbing his sore feet. 

‘Infinite, apparently,’ Yaz said with a sigh. The cat was curled up on her legs, fast asleep, and Yaz stroked its fur soothingly. They were still no closer to finding out where it had come from, and the Doctor had seemingly vanished into thin air.

‘No wonder we can’t find her then,’ Ryan said. ‘She could be anywhere.’ 

‘Quick nap I reckon, then we’ll keep looking’ Graham said with a yawn, and Yaz had to agree. It had been the middle of the night when she’d first discovered the cat - or what passed for the middle of the night in a time machine - and she felt sleep pulling at her limbs, weighing her down and keeping her from moving.

She grabbed a blanket from behind the sofa and flung it over herself and the cat, wriggling into a more comfortable position whilst trying not to disturb the sleeping feline too much. At least it was a friendly cat that enjoyed their company. Hopefully they’d find a proper home for it soon. 

She fell asleep to the sound of Ryan snoring loudly, and the cat purring against her neck.

* * *

When she woke up, there was a weight on her chest and soft breath against her neck. 

Yaz blinked.

The Doctor was sleeping on her. 

She’d fallen asleep lying on the sofa and the Doctor was pressed against her front, tucked under Yaz’s arm and dead to the world. She was also, Yaz realised as she carefully moved a arm a little and felt bare skin under her fingertips, totally naked. There was no sign of the cat.

Then Yaz’s brain caught up with her.

‘You  _ were  _ the cat,’ she breathed in astonishment, regretting it instantly when she woke the Doctor up. 

The Doctor blinked sleepy green eyes at her, then frowned and shot up; clutching the blanket to her chest as she looked around in confusion.

‘Uh… what’s going on?’

‘Doc!’

At the sound of her voice, Graham and Ryan had also woken up and they regarded her curiously. She was wrapped in the blanket but her hair was a mess and she was shaking a little, as though feverish with something.

‘Mate, where were you?’ Ryan asked her. ‘We’ve been looking everywhere for you!’

‘Yeah! There’s this cat running around,’ Graham added. He sat up and looked around, eyebrows crinkling. ‘Where is it?’

‘The Doctor was the cat,’ Yaz said with bemused certainty. 

‘Of course,’ Graham breathed. ‘I should have guessed that when she pinched the custard cream.’

‘Wait, what?’ the Doctor mumbled, disorientated. ‘Cat?’

‘We found your clothes in your bathroom,’ Ryan said. ‘Sorry, we went poking around in your room. There was this smashed purple glass thing too.’

The Doctor pulled a face.

‘Oh. That. I knew keeping it in the bathroom was a bad idea.’

She settled back against the sofa, shivering under her blankets, and Yaz tucked an arm around her carefully. She expected the Doctor to pull away - she knew she wasn’t a massive fan of being touched - but instead the Doctor pressed into her and let out a shaky breath, eyes shut. 

‘What was it?’ Ryan asked curiously. 

‘It’s called a prexian sphere,’ the Doctor mumbled quietly. ‘Contains a curse. I picked it up at a market years ago without realising what it was. Then, when I figured it out, I kept it in the bathroom.’

‘Why would you keep a curse in the bathroom?’ Graham said, bemused.

‘I kept meaning to move it!’ the Doctor protested, opening one eye to glare at him. ‘I just never got round to it.’ 

‘A curse that turned you into a cat?’ Yaz said, confused, and the Doctor nodded. 

‘Yeah. They don’t last very long. They’re meant for schoolyard pranks really.’

‘Some prank. We just used to fire spitballs at each other,’ Graham said, and Ryan pulled a face in disgust. 

‘Are you okay though?’ Yaz asked, pressing a hand against the Doctor's forehead. She felt warm, warmer than she usually did, but the Doctor nodded and Yaz felt her body growing heavy against her side. 

‘I’ll be fine,’ she mumbled. ‘Just need to sleep it off.’

‘You admitting you need to sleep,’ Graham chuckled fondly. ‘That’s not something you hear everyday. Although, neither is getting turned into a cat I suppose.’

‘She’s out,’ Yaz said, stroking sweaty hair back from the Doctor's forehead and moving her head carefully so she was better positioned against Yaz’s shoulder. ‘Why don’t you guys start getting some food on? I’ll keep an eye on her.’

‘Bless her,’ Graham chuckled, knees clicking as he stood up. ‘It takes getting turned into a cat to get her to take a nap.’

‘I should have filmed her chasing that laser pointer around,’ Ryan said, disappointed in himself. ‘It was so cute.’ 

‘I don’t think she needs to be a cat to chase a red dot around,’ Graham pointed out, and Ryan had to agree. 

Once they’d left the room Yaz picked up a discarded book - careful not to jostle the Doctor - and began to read. 

Against her neck, the Doctor started to purr quietly. 

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
